Lamentations 4:1-16
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh’s Wrath Spent
Aleph
4 How (A)dark the gold has become,
How the pure gold has changed!
The sacred stones are poured out
At the head of every street.
Beth
2 The precious sons of Zion,
Weighed against fine gold,
How they are regarded as (B)earthen jars,
The work of a potter’s hands!
Gimel
3 Even (C)jackals offer the breast;
They nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people has become (D)cruel
Like (E)ostriches in the wilderness.
Daleth
4 The (F)tongue of the nursing baby cleaves
To the roof of its mouth because of (G)thirst;
The infants (H)ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
He
5 Those who ate (I)delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those [a]reared in crimson
Embrace ash pits.
Vav
6 So the [b]iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the [c](J)sin of Sodom,
Which was (K)overthrown as in a moment,
And no hands [d]whirled toward her.
Zayin
7 Her [e]Nazirites were (L)purer than snow;
They were whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in [f]body than corals,
Their polishing was like [g](M)lapis lazuli.
Heth
8 Their form is (N)blacker than soot;
They are not recognized in the streets;
Their (O)skin is shriveled on their bones;
It is withered, it has become like wood.
Teth
9 Better are those (P)pierced through with the sword
Than those pierced through with hunger;
For their life (Q)flows away, being stricken
For lack of the produce of [h]the field.
Yodh
10 The hands of compassionate women
(R)Boiled their own children;
They became (S)food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Kaph
11 Yahweh has (T)spent His wrath;
He has poured out His burning anger;
And He has (U)kindled a fire in Zion
Which has devoured its foundations.
Lamedh
12 The kings of the earth did not believe,
Nor did any of (V)the inhabitants of the world,
That the adversary and the enemy
Could (W)enter the gates of Jerusalem.
Mem
13 Because of the sins of her (X)prophets
And the iniquities of her priests,
Who have shed in her midst
The (Y)blood of the righteous;
Nun
14 They wandered, (Z)blind, in the streets;
They were defiled with (AA)blood
So that no one could touch their (AB)garments.
Samekh
15 “Depart! (AC)Unclean!” [i]they cried of themselves.
“Depart, depart, do not touch!”
So they (AD)fled and wandered;
Men among the nations said,
“They shall not continue to sojourn with us.”
Pe
16 The presence of Yahweh has eradicated them;
He will not continue to look at them;
They did not [j](AE)honor the priests;
They did not favor the elders.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:5 Lit established in crimson
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for iniquity
- Lamentations 4:6 Or punishment for sin
- Lamentations 4:6 Or wrung over her
- Lamentations 4:7 Or dedicated ones
- Lamentations 4:7 Lit bones
- Lamentations 4:7 Heb sappir
- Lamentations 4:9 Lit my fields
- Lamentations 4:15 Or they (men) cried to them
- Lamentations 4:16 Lit lift up the faces of
Lamentations 4:1-16
Evangelical Heritage Version
Gloom Settles on the City[a]
4 How dull the gold has become! How the fine gold has lost its shimmer!
Sacred stones are poured out at the corner of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion, who were worth their weight in gold,
now are treated like clay jars, the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer a breast and nurse their young,
but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like an ostrich in the wilderness.
4 The baby’s tongue sticks to the roof of its mouth because of thirst.
Children ask for bread, but no one shares with them.
5 Those who ate delicacies have become desolate in the streets.
Those who were dressed in scarlet have embraced piles of trash.
6 The guilt of the daughter of my people was greater than the sin of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment, though no hands turned against her.
7 Her consecrated ones[b] were brighter than snow. They were whiter than milk.
Their bones were redder than rubies; their facets shined like sapphires.
8 Now their faces have become the darkest black. They cannot be recognized in the streets.
Their skin has shriveled on their bones. It is as dry as a stick of wood.
9 Those cut down by the sword are better off than those cut down by hunger,
those who waste away, pierced with pain, with no crops to eat from the field.
10 The hands of compassionate women boiled their children.
Their children became their food when the daughter of my people was broken.
11 The Lord carried out his wrath. He poured out his burning anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion, and it consumed her foundations.
12 The kings of the earth and the world’s inhabitants never believed
that foe and enemy would enter the gates of Jerusalem.
13 The reason this happened was the sin of her prophets and the guilt of her priests,
who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
14 Those blind men staggered in the streets. They were defiled with blood,
so people could not touch their garments.
15 “Go away! Unclean!” people shouted to them. “Go away! Go away! Do not touch us!”
When they fled, when they staggered, people among the nations said,
“They may not stay here anymore.”
16 The face of the Lord scattered them. He has no regard for them anymore.
Priests were shown no consideration. Elders were shown no favor.
Footnotes
- Lamentations 4:1 This chapter is an alphabetic acrostic. There are 22 verses in the chapter, and there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
- Lamentations 4:7 Or Nazirites
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